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The Alamance gleaner Vol LXVIII GRAHAM, N. C., THURSDAY, APRIL 23, 1942 No. 12 WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS By Edward C. Wayne Laval Given French Police Powers As Germany Fears Invasion Threat; U. S. Bombers, Subs Smash at Japs; Increased Undersea Program Likely (EDITOR'S NOTE?Whin ?pinions are expressed in these colomna, they are those ?( the news analyst and not necessarily of this newspaper.) _. (Released by Western Newspaper Union.) ??????? VICHY: Pressure from Berlin Regardless of underlying causes, or of bow much justification there might have been, the overturn of government in Vichy which had brought Laval back to power as "civil supervisor" had been definite ly accepted by Britain and the United States as a decision to "gp with the Axis." It had come at a moment when there were some indications that Vichy was wavering in its collabo ration with Germany, and that Petain and his associates were look ing with longing and friendly eyes toward the United States as a pos sible source of food supplies. Some favorable steps had been made in this direction, then, all of a sudden, Laval seized the police power, and before the world knew it, Laval was back in the cabinet and many believed it marked the end of the Petain regime. London was very positive about the whole thing, saying frankly that the re-entry of Laval into the gov ernment, the man who looks, acts and talks like Hitler, "reduces France to the level of a nickel Bal kan state." The spokesman contin ued: "It clearly indicates the com plete subservience of the Vichy pol icy to Berlin." Two vital reasons were seen for the Laval development and both of them were envisioned as Germany "crack ing down" on the Petain regime. The first was the German fear that an American-British invasion of the continent through France is immi nent. The second was that Germany feared the growing friendliness of Vichy and Washington through the ministrations of Leahy. Hardly anybody thought the French fleet would immediately go into the war on Germany's side, neither could most observers see French soldiers fighting against the Rus sians, nor French fliers manning planes to bomb Britain. But they could see a strong effort to be made at once by Germany PIERRE LAVAL Who talk* like Hitler. to man unoccupied France with troops which could be depended on to fight an invasion attempt, and thus relieve Germany of the necessity, and already through field glasses they could see the Germans prepar ing gun emplacements on the chan nel coast. MERCY SHIP: For Bataan The first revelation of identity of the men lost in the battle of Bataan (the Jap claim had been 6,700 Amer icans of 40,000 total prisoners) came when 600 relatives of 1,400 New Mex ico soldiers pleaded for a "mercy ship" to be sent to Bataan with food and clothing. They comprised fathers, mothers, sisters and brothers of the men of the 200th coast artillery corps (anti aircraft), all from the state of New Mexico. It was stated in their petition that they believed their unit to have had more men in it than that from any other single state. While some of the relatives did not sign, and hope was expressed that perhaps much of the corps had escaped from Bataan to Corregidor, there was enough evidence that the regiment had been trapped to induce Senator Chavez to go to work at Washington in their behalf. The first thing that had been done, however, was for the senator to ask the President for definite word as to the fate of New Mexico's 200th. U. S. SUBS: Wolf pack Tactics The success of American subma rines in the present Pacific war with credit for a substantial percentage of the amount of Japanese warships sent to the bottom, had caused Chairman Vinson of the house naval affairs committee to present a pro gram calling for $800,000,000 more in undersea craft. A progTam adopted in 1940 called for 65 such ships. This would call for 100 more, or more than double the amount previously authorized. The navy, last October, had 186 submarines in service, of which only a few were of the 1,500-ton "cruiser type,", which are now under con struction and planned by the Vin son program. The naval plan would be for the United States to adopt the same CARL VINSON An $800,000,000 program. "wolfpack" tactics used by the Japs and Germans against American shipping. Though it was pointed out that we are building ships faster than they are being sunk, Vinson felt that an increased sub program would kick the Japs out of the war faster, as their shipbuilding facilities were limited. MacARTHUR: In Command Although it had seemed clear enough through dispatches from Australia that the return of Mac Arthur from the Philippines had been to place him in command of all armies of the United Nations in the Far East, some doubt had fol lowed this in the eyes of the public largely because of stories about Gen eral Blarney, and the small amount of material coming direct from Mac Arthur. Finally the direct question was put to the American generalissimo, and his headquarters gave credence to the rumors when it frankly said it didn't know?that the general's sta tus was not clear. This called for a statement by President Roosevelt and Prime Min ister Curtin, the former stating that it was his understanding that Mac Arthur was in supreme command. The following day this had been concurred in fully by Prime Minis ter Curtin, who went into enough de tail so that little doubt could remain as to MacArthur's command pow ers. The only point remaining not clear was whether MacArthur's powers extended to New Zealand. A Neth erlands spokesman had confirmed his command over such Dutch forces as had escaped from the East In dies, and the fact that General Still well was in command of Chinese in Burma seemed sufficient confirma tion from that quarter. PRICES: And Labor The chances were that President Roosevelt might "beat to the punch" congressional efforts to legislate on the labor situation by pbgging all prices, including rents and wages and interest on capital, thus fol lowing the Canadian and Australian sytems already in effect. Australia, guarding against the "black market" troubles England had had, because of a dire shortage of commodities, took the same step Canada had, and brought all prices and services under control of the government. The price commissioner was given authority to peg all prices and serv ices at levels he might select. JAP INTERNEES: Paid Too Much? SENATOR GILLETTE Offers a four-point program. Latest "scandal" to land on the front pages had been a report, given to the public by Senator Gillette of Iowa, that Japanese internees some of them were being paid $50 a month by the government as against $21 ? for selectees. The senator said he was im pressed by the sources of his infor mation, and that he might ask for the congress to investigate. The senator added that in any case, he was offering a four-point program, as follows: 1. Put all Japs, native and aliens, under United Nations authority and remove them from the Pacific coast. 2. Rescind all their civil rights for the duration. 3. Draft all the males between 20 and 44 for farm work under army control and for basic army pay. 4. Support this entire program with funds obtained from frozen Jap anese money now in this country, j The senator .said that he had in formation there was the sum of $130,000,000 now available, and that several hundred millions more could be liquidated by selling frozen Jap anese assets in this country. RUSSIANS: Place names coming out in Rus sian dispatches spoke volumes, more than any claims of killed or wounded, because they definitely had showed that the German "spring offensive," although well under way with hundreds of thousands of men, was getting nowhere. For instance, the Reds had | claimed to have pierced German lines in the vicinity of Bryansk; con- i stant references were made to ac tions north and south of Lake II- | men; Kalinin was a common name in the dispatches and the reports J from towns like Mariupol in the 1 south, and Vitebsk of Nazi atroci ties could only have been obtained ; as the result of Russian advances. There were German admissions showing Russian advances, a break through admitted near Lake Ilmen, and Berlin broadcasts had said that the Reds were pounding the central front with an army of 90,000, in cluding hundreds of tanks. COUGHLIJN: Social Justice, the weekly news paper which was founded at Royal Oak, Mich., by the Rev. Charles E. j Coughlin, radio priest, had been barred from the mails. Father Coughlin issued a state ment denying present ownership of the paper, or any connection with its-editorial content since last fall. Washington advices, however, had indicated that the principal owner ship rested with the "radio priest's" father and mother. The accusation against the publica tion had been two things?that it was conducted along the line of the Axis propaganda war against this country, and, second that it had been "making a substantial contribution to a systematic and unscrupulous attack" upon the nation's war ef fort." AIR EPIC: A heroic epic of the air was the story of the rescue at sea of 17 sur vivors of a torpedoed vessel, includ ing one woman, by a navy patrol plane piloted by Ensign Francis E. Pinter of Bethlehem, Pa. Pinter's plane, a twin-motored bomber flying from San Juan to Guantanamo on submarine patrol got a radio message to investigate a raft at a certain point, and to report chances of effecting a rescue. He had taken off with 500 gallons of gas and had burned 300 gallons, or lightened his ship by 1,800 pounds, and though the sea was rough he decided to chance it "as rescue seemed necessary at once." Down he came, got the people into his plane, all of them so exhausted that they needed help for the trans fer. One was tied to the deck, the woman got a bunk, the rest sat or lay where they could, three of them in the bomb compartment. I Total War Effort Demands End of Political Bickering American Industry Now Roiling at Speed Which Means Victory for Allies; Defeat Can Only Come at Home. ^ By BAUKHAGE News Analyst and Commentator. WNU Service, 1J43 H Street, N. W., Washington, D. C. As the time grows shorter and the critical moment approaches when the Axis poises itself for a knock out blow, there is one battle which the enemy is steadily losing. The battle of France, the battle of Crete, the battle of the Netherlands Indies are all deep scars on the Allied es cutcheon. But at last, despite end less delays, the selfishness and the bickering, we have begun to win the battle of America. In the laboratory, on the draw ing board and now finally m the machine shop and on the drill field America is forging the weapons and the organization which will win. That statement is based on the confidential reports of the perform ance of American rifles, cannon, planes, tanks and ships tested in actual warfare. We are still behind the enemy in some weapons. Some special artil lery units of the Germans are su perior. We have not reached the perfection in training of paratroops. We have not mastered the Jap anese art of infiltration. We have not been able to work out the syn chronization of air forces with other forces as the Germans have done on land and the Japanese have done on the sea. But wherever our sep arate units have been in action there is high praise for both performance of personnel and material. Where we have perfected that unity we have been highly successful. American big bombers lead the world. With the comparatively few now in action they have put out of commission 60 Japanese ships and destroyed as many enemy airplanes. The United States was far behind in aircraft carriers when the war began. But we can build them fast er than Japan can. We are building them now. We are turning out "eyes of the navy." Our navy after Pearl Harbor was constantly shadowed by Japanese reconnaissance planes which have been in the air steadily. Torpedo Boatt We are building an under-water surface and air combination which will probably decide the war in the Pacific. Our fast patrol torpedo boats have an enviable record in the Philippines; our new destroy ers are tough skinned. The Kear ney reached port after being almost cut in two with torpedoes. Our new merchant ships are tough, too. The sinkings along the Atlantic coast have been limited to ancient tank ers; the only new tanker the subs were able to catch and hit got into port under her own power. General MacArthur reports that the new Garand rifle and the new car bines which have been substituted for the -i5 revolvers give our mo bile troops superior fire power. Our light machine guns are at least equal to anything the Axis has pro duced. Our field artillery has been re made. Our light tanks have proved them selves against Europe's best in the same class; our medium tanks are being improved in the light of ex perience and army men believe our armored units soon will dominate in that field. We have the men. We now have trained men to train other men and as the Axis draws on its re serves of manpower our own army swells. We are winning the battle of America before it is begun and unless the whole structure of the Allies is destroyed before we can get the ships, we will be able to carry that battle into the enemy's country. That is the optimistic side of the picture. The other side is the con fusion on the home front. Like France we are still battling each other. We still are afraid of losing our own privileges and our own prof its, group is fighting against group instead of uniting against a common enemy. Although we have gradually abol ished business as usual, we have not been able to abolish politics as usual. Until we do we will not have a total war effort, and without a total war effort we cannot wage a total war to victory. ?Boy Defense Bonds? Golden Silence In all Washington taxicabs there are signs, placed thera by order of the - Public Utilities commission, which read: "Don't kill Americans by loose talk." You know Washington has?or did have until the tire restriction start ed?one of the most remarkable taxi systems in the world. You can ride miles for 30 cents. There are no meters. The cabs are all sedans, no partition between driver and pas sengers and the drivers are very sociable. That is one reason for the signs. Not that the drivers are spys but they frequently repeat what they hear. The day the signs appeared I asked a driver if he had noticed any difference in the conduct of his pas sengers. "Oh," he said, "it makes some of the brass hats whisper some, that's all." I talked to a colored driver who ! had quite a contribution on the sub ject. He may have been biased for he talked like a man who was a trained personal servant. He said , this: "Careless talk is what gave the Japs the jump on us in this war. You see when an American got real rich the first thing he did was to hire a Jap butler. A lot of those butlers turned out to be captains and generals and admirals. They heard a lot of careless talk and they learned a lot of important secrets." The opinion may have been in spired by professional jealousy, but I imagine the driver was not far wrong. ?Buy Defense Bonds War Program As Propaganda ' The President's gargantuan war program proved to be just what he probably intended it?not merely a prescription for eventual victory in arms for the united nations, but a powerful propaganda weapon. We Americans don't quite realize in what high esteem our ability to make things is held abroad. I was told by officials recently returned from Europe that the thing about America's war effort (before Pearl Harbor) which most impressed Eu rooeans was the statement bv Henrv Ford that he could produce a thou sand planes a day. Why? Because the name Ford ! means more around the world in terms of concrete experience than the name of perhaps any other liv ing man. Almost everybody has seen a Ford. The second thing that most im pressed Europeans (which occurred since Pearl Harbor) was the news that American pleasure car factories were to be turned over 100 per cent to defense. Why? Because few towns in Eu . rope are unfamiliar with the name of some branch factory of an Amer ican automobile manufacturer. ? ? ? Polter-Geist Did you ever hear of a polter geist? It is a strange kind of ghost that breaks dishes, rattles pans, upsets tables and chairs. There are plenty of records of their behavior. Well, one visited me the other day. While I was shaving I heard a crash. I thought the dog had got loose, jumped up on the dresser and knocked off the alarm clock. But I looked at the kitchen door. It was closed. The dog couldn't open it I went into my bedroom. Sure enough the clock was sitting at a weird angle on the dresser. I picked it up. The key that sets the alarm was bent almost flat. When I tried to straighten it, it broke off. Now who could have done that but a polter-geist? ? ? ? Twine?and Jape Farmers who get binder twine must sign a statement that they will use the twine for handling farm products only. Sisal products were cut off by the war in the Far East. And the Japs have got hold of some of the best?Manila hemp. Rope made from Manila hemp is especially valuable to sailormen because it is like a certain well advertised soap. It floats. There is, however, one satisfac tion about having the Japs get hold of that rope: perhaps if we give them enough they'll hang them selves. Sugar Rationing Is No Hardship Our Ancestors for Eons Got Along Without Added Sweetening. CHICAGO.?For every year that English speaking peoples have en Joyed tea and cane sugar, their ancestors got along 2,900 to 3,500 years without these delicacies. Ac cordingly, declares Paul C. Standley, curator of the botany herbarium of Chicago's Field Museum of Natural History, if a lump of sugar should become so rare as to qualify as a museum piece, there still would be no cause for great excitement. Sugar has been in general use in our civilization only about 360 years, and tea less than 300 yeara, though the human race has been eating meat (without the sugar cure) and dessert (fresh off the tree) f&r a million years or more. Housewives worrying about a pos sible tea famine and sugar ration ing may find these items to be only the beginning of the readjustments which the Son of Heaven and the Son of Schicklgruber might occasion. This statement applies particularly to the wives of gentlemen who de mand pies, cakes, waffles, French pastries, fried foods, and oily salads. Sweets So Essential? It is quite possible, declares-Ovid A. Martin, World Wide writer, that the government may ration lard, cooking compounds, vegetable short enings, salad oils, butter and butter substitutes. But the sugar ration is the only one already upon us. "From the national concern about a shortage one would suppose that man could not exist without sugar," says Mr. Standley. "Perhaps this is almost true nowadays, for last year the people of the United States each consumed about 96 pounds, and food habits are indeed hard to change. "But up to 40 years ago the Rus sians used no more than two pounds per capita annually; and for thou sands of years highly civilized peo ples of Europe and the Near East managed to live healthfully and hap pily, if we may judge by their lit erature, without any sugar at all. "Sugar was unknown to the an cient Greeks and Romans, except the few legionnaires who made cam paigns to the extreme Orient. The fabulous Lucullan banquets of Rome's epicures were graced by no sugar except that obtained in honey and in dates and other fruits. spread in world Kecent. "Cane sugar actually was intro duced into England about 1466, but was long restricted to occasional feasts of the rich, or to use as a medicine! It did not come into com mon use there until about 1580, when importations began from Brazil by way of Portugal. By 1790 English consumption was 20 pounds annual ly per person. "Sugar cane is believed to have been native in southeastern Asia and must have been utilized there from man's earliest days of existence, but it was not for hundreds of years after the beginning of the Christian era that it or its product (first called sweet salt) became known in China and northwestern Africa. It was taken to Spain by the Arabs about A. D. 700, and then grown along the Mediterranean coast: about 1420 it was introduced into Madeira by the Portuguese, later into the Canaries, thence to Santo Domingo, and to Brazil early in the Sixteenth century. It is said to have reached Mexico in 1553." Chicagoan Is in Navy Now, at Nothing a Year CHICAGO.?You've heard a lot about dollar-a-year men. Now meet Chicago's only nothing-a-year man. He is 46-year-old E. J. Kennedy, retired business executive, who bobbed up with a wave of excited recruits the day after the Japanese rabbit-punched Pearl Harbor. "I can help," Kennedy told the harried staff at the navy recruiting office, wriggled behind a typewriter and began taking down the names of volunteers. He's been working there ever since and recently was assigned two enlisted men as assistants. Japanese Credit Pigs In Singapore Victory TOKYO. ? Hundreds of barking dogs, squealing pigs and crowing roosters helped the Japanese con quer Singapore, military observers said. They said it was all part of the "time-honored fear tactics employed by the Japanese centuries ago." The Japanese collected the dogs, pigs and roosters and made them emit an "infernal clamor" close to the enemy positions, which "fooled the British into thinking they were being attacked by a tremendous force." 'Guinea Pig Trees Aid Rubber Output * Raise Saplings to Send to Latin America. MIAMI, FLA.?Twelve hundred "guinea pig" rubber trees are work ing lull time producing for Unci* Sam new types which will inject vim and vigor into the rubber pro ducing potentialities of Central and South America. The little-known 150-acre plant in troduction station here is the only government-operated station in the country devoted to study of natural rubber production. Experts have been on the job quietly for 17 years but their work has been spotlighted suddenly by war and the nation's ur gent need to replace Far Eastern rubber sources. Under the direction of H. F. Loomis, associate agronomist, the staff has been able through careful grafting to increase the output of latex (the sap from which rubber is made) from three pounds per tree to 30 pounds. It takes 14 pounds of latex to make an ordinary tire. Further, the 1,200 mature trees now are turning out 90,000 saplings annually for transplanting in Latin America. ? The finest seeds, buds and bud sticks from Malay and Latin Amer ica rubber plantations are sent here via the United States government inspection house at Washington. The average rubber plantation grows 100 trees per acre, and the step-up means that the acreage yield will be increased from 300 to 30,000 pounds annually. Loomis says it would take about 20 years for rubber plantations in Central and South America to supply this country's present need for 600, 000 tons a year. But every produc tion increase means that much leas rubber has to come from other less prolific natural sources and from synthetics. Children's Toys for 1942 Display Martial Designs NEW YORK?"Children in 1942 ar* going to be aware there is a war. The American Toy Fair here dis plays martial designs ranging from bathtub counterparts of battleship* and submersible submarines to army tanks, trucks, planes and fleet maneuvers. Juvenile paint books had pictures of training camp activities. Play uniforms were copied from models worn by the army, navy and marine corps. Toy soldiers were modeled from the armed services of this country. On the feminine side dolls were shown in service uniforms and Red Cross nurse costumes. Because of the war. however, there was a reduction of individual items by about 50 per cent. Lighter weight construction and simplified packaging have been de veloped in all toy lines to effect ad ditional conservation of materials and labor. Orders are being accept ed on a "when and if" basis. Foe Uses Grave Mounds To Hide Things on Bataan WITH GENERAL Mac ARTHUR'S FORCES.?So diligently do the Jap anese guard against letting anything of value fall into enemy hands that they even hide objects with the dead. This was established when United States officers on Bataan peninsula, acting on the tip of a voluntarily surrendered prisoner, unearthed a quantity of war material from 11 mounds of earth that were supposed to mark the final resting place of Japanese officers killed when they were cut off behind the American lines. Only one of the graves con tained a body. From the others were hauled three 73-mm. guns, two 37-mm. guns, more than 1,000 rounds of ammunition, several combination telephone-telegraph sets, five rolls of field wire and other materials of war. Cans on Pantry Shelves Will Give Way to Glass WASHINGTON.?With tin cans al ready on their way out because of limited supplies and military de mands, America's grocers and housewives will see their shelves lined with jars and bottles. The war department board re vealed that it was working out a program to step up glass-container production and increase the coun try's preserving capacity. There is no glass shortage, WPB officials said, but the program does not envisage an increased use of material. They explained that the shift from tin to glass would bring in larger containers, simpler de signs, elimination of excess weight and reduced breakage, and round rather than square containers. . ak,
The Alamance Gleaner (Graham, N.C.)
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